Staff

Desireé is our most recent addition to the DiscoverHope Team, replacing Nora Bedard as Field Program Manager. In 2009 she served as a Curtis W. Meadows Summer Fellow and spent the summer working alongside Nora engaging in the everyday practice of our microcredit plus training programs. In spring 2010, “Des” spearheaded our site vetting committee to determine potential sites for our work. Most recently, she participated in a three month training module under Nora’s supervision preparing for her new position.

Desireé joins DiscoverHope from a variety of international and national experiences. During the spring of 2010, she completed her Masters of Public Affairs at the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs in Austin, Texas focusing on environmental policy and nonprofit studies. During that time, she worked as a graduate research assistant at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality-Border Affairs Division. Prior to completing her graduate studies, Desireé served three years with Peace Corps Peru as a community health extension volunteer in the northern coastal community of Salas, a mere six hours from Cajamarca.

A Note from Desireé:

I am so excited to be in Peru working with the women of DiscoverHope and continuing the legacy of the past three years. Nora has left an incredible platform from which to build and I feel blessed to have spent three months working alongside her and witnessing our women grow in so many ways. The decision to return to Peru was not taken lightly. As Nora made that big decision three years ago to leave her family and life as she knew it in the States, I too had to contemplate a life away from the comforts of home. I know in my heart that I am making the right decision and I am 100% committed to helping DiscoverHope fulfill their mission of creating abundance in the lives of women entrepreneurs in Cajamarca.

I would like to thank DiscoverHope for entrusting their confidence in me and allowing me to embark on such an exciting new chapter in my life. The entire DiscoverHope Family continues to inspire me on a daily basis with their love, dedication, and belief in our work. I promise to make you all proud of your decision to be a part of this important labor of love. I look forward to sending you updates as we grow the program to form new village banks and increase the number of entrepreneurial trainings so that more women can make the journey from poverty to prosperity.